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House History

House History Elgy Road Gosforth

House History Elgy Road Gosforth

We have begun researching the history of a house in Elgy Road, Gosforth. The homeowner is lucky enough to have the original deeds to the house. When researching the history of a property trying to locate and examine any existing deeds to the property is always our first step. Having looked at the deeds we have been able to discover the following information about the property.

Ashburton Estate

OS 2nd edition Ashburton 1898

The house was one of many built on the former Ashburton Estate. The Estate comprised Ashburton House and about 14 acres of land. Further research is required to establish the early history of Ashburton House but we know that in 1883, the then owner of the Ashburton Estate, John Carter Atkinson, a timber merchant, sold the property to The Committee of the Chadwick Memorial Industrial School for Boys

Chadwick Memorial School

The Chadwick Memorial School has been established in 1882 and occupied the former premises of Newcastle Racecourse on the corner of Kenton Road on the site now part occupied by Kwik-Fit. The Committee paid £9000 for the Ashburton Estate in 1883. The house and some of the land became The Ashburton House Industrial School for Roman Catholic Girls with part of the land used to create Ashburton Roman Catholic Cemetery.

Industrial Schools

Industrial Schools were established in 1857 initially to house children who were convicted of vagrancy. By 1861 Industrial Schools were providing a home and education for children who were homeless, found wandering, believed to be frequenting with thieves, whose parents could not control them and children under 12 who had committed an imprisonable offence.

The Ashburton House Industrial School for Roman Catholic Girls continued to be managed by the Committee of the Chadwick Memorial Industrial School for Boys and the girls was staffed by the Sisters of Charity.

Management

Management of the school was not without its problems – initially sanitation was very basic- there were no water closets – the area was renowned for bad drains and sewerage problems and there were financial difficulties. It is likely that it was the latter that led the Management Committee to consider selling Ashburton House in 1905.The school closed in 1906 and was demolished shortly afterwards.

We will continue the story of the development of this area of Gosforth following the demolition of Ashburton House in our next post.

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